Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Southern Hemisphere

The projectile had just escaped a terrible and unexpected danger.Who would have imagined encountering a bolide like this?These stray objects could pose serious danger to the three travelers.They were like navigators who had encountered reefs, but were less fortunate than they, for they could not escape the reefs scattered in the etheric ocean.But do these three space adventurers complain about their fate?No, for nature caused this meteor to explode suddenly and horribly, and made them behold this radiant spectacle, because, whatever Ruggieri they beheld. ) inimitable pyrotechnics, once for a few seconds illuminated the invisible halo of the moon.In this swift glance, continents, seas, and forests all appeared before them.Will the atmosphere bring living molecules to this unknown world? These questions, which have always stimulated human curiosity, are still impossible to solve!

It was half past three in the afternoon.The cannonball was following its curved orbit around the moon.Will it change its orbit for the second time under the influence of bolides?I'm afraid it is.However, the projectile must run along the curve prescribed by the laws of mechanics, and no one can interfere.Barbicane was inclined to think that the curve was more likely to be a parabola than a hyperbola.But if it is a parabola, the shell should fly out of the moon fairly quickly and be cast into the shadow cone of space opposite the sun.In fact, the cone is small because, compared with the diameter of the day body, the angular diameter of the Moon is small.Yet, to this day, the projectile still hovers in this dark shadow.No matter how great its speed is, its speed cannot be too small, it still continues to stay in the shadow.This is an obvious fact, but, if it were a true parabola, perhaps this phenomenon would not occur.This was a new question which tormented Barbicane, who seemed to be entangled in a circle of unknowns from which he could not escape.

None of the three travelers wanted to rest for a while.Everyone is on the lookout for some unexpected fact that could shed new light on celestial research.Near five o'clock, MichelleArdan distributed a few slices of bread and some cold meat for his supper, which were eaten quickly, but no one left his porthole, and the steam was constantly condensing into frost on the panes. At 5:45 in the evening, Nicholl saw through his telescope several bright luminous points emerging from the black sky on the southern edge of the Moon, directly in front of the projectile.We might say that this is a continuous series of steep peaks, like a trembling white line floating on the horizon, these luminous points are quite bright.Just like the lines that appear on the edge of the lunar disk when the moon is in an eighth phase.

We should not be mistaken.This was no ordinary bolide, and this glowing ridge had neither the color nor the fluidity of a bolide.Not even an active volcano.So Barbicane expressed his opinion without hesitation. sun!he said aloud. What!sun!Nichol and Michelle.Adam answered in unison. Yes, my friends, that shines upon these mountains on the southern edge of the Moon.It is this radiant celestial body.We're clearly getting close to the South Pole! We've just passed the North Pole, Michelle replied.With that said, we're going for a spin around our moon! Yes, I'm straight Michelle.

Then, we no longer need to be afraid of hyperbolas, parabolas or open curves! Yes!This is a closed curve. What's the name? oval.The projectile will presumably follow an elliptical orbit around the Moon, never to disappear into interstellar space again. It's true! It will be a satellite of the moon. Let's become the moon of the moon!Michelle.Adam yelled. But I must tell you, my esteemed friend, says Barbicane, we are still not saved! That's okay, at least we can die in a particularly interesting way!replied the carefree Frenchman with his sweetest smile. Chairman Barbicane was right.As the projectile advances along an elliptical orbit, it must become a small satellite, orbiting the moon forever.This is a new addition to the solar system, a miniature world with only three inhabitants.The three inhabitants would soon die from lack of air.Naturally, therefore, Barbicane would not be pleased at the final fate of the cannonball by the centripetal and centrifugal forces, and that he and his companions would once again see the bright disk of the moon.Their lives may even be extended until they are able to see the full moon of the Earth, illuminated by the sun's rays for the last time!They may be able to say their final goodbyes to an Earth they can never return to!After a while their projectile was nothing more than an extinguished, lifeless body, like those lifeless asteroids orbiting in etheric space.Their only consolation was that they had at last left the unfathomable darkness, saw the light again, and returned to the moonland bathed in sunlight.

At this time, the many mountains that Barbicane had seen were gradually getting rid of the darkness.This is the Dorfair and Leibniz mountains that stand on the south pole of the moon. All mountains in the visible hemisphere have been accurately measured.We may be surprised at how well it works, but this method of measuring height is very rigorous.We can even be sure that the heights of mountains on the Moon are as accurate as those on Earth. The most common method is to measure the length of the mountain's shadow according to the height of the sun at that time.Assuming the actual diameter of the Moon is exactly correct, it can be easily measured with a telescope with two parallel lines of crosshairs on the lens.Depths of lunar craters and caves can also be measured using this method.Galileo used this method.Later Messrs. Bill and Madrell also used this method with great success.

Another method, called tangent determination, can also be used to measure the height of lunar mountains.We can use this method when the mountains of the moon form glowing points in the dark part beyond the light-dark line.The sun's rays striking these luminous points are higher than the sun's rays that determine the dividing line.Therefore, the dark distance between the luminous point and the closest point on the lunar phase boundary is the height of the luminous point.However, we naturally understand that this method can only be applied to high mountains near the light-dark boundary.

A third method is to use a micrometer to measure the silhouettes of lunar mountains floating against the background of the sky, but it only works for mountains on the lunar edge. In any case, it will be noted that the measurement of distances or silhouettes of shadows or darkness, from the observer's point of view, is only possible when the sun's rays fall obliquely on the Moon.When the sun's rays fall directly on the moon, in other words, when the moon is full, all shadows disappear completely, and measurement is naturally impossible. Galileo was the first to use the shadow method to calculate their heights after recognizing the existence of lunar mountains.As we have already said, he determined the average height of these mountains to be 4,500 Torvalds.Helvetia kept these figures low, but Riccioli doubled them.Both sides are too exaggerated.Herschel was equipped with perfect instruments, and the height he measured was closer to the actual situation.But, in the end, the correct answer should be found in the reports of modern observers.

Messrs. Bill and Madrell are the most outstanding lunar scientists in the world. They have measured one thousand and ninety-five lunar mountains.According to their measurements, six of them are over 5,800 meters high, and twenty-two are over 4,800 meters high.The highest mountain on the moon is 7603 meters high, which is lower than the highest mountain on the earth. There are many mountains on the earth that are 500 to 600 Torvalds higher than the highest mountain on the moon.However, we should clarify here.If we compare the volumes of these two celestial bodies, we should say that the mountains on the moon are much higher than the mountains on the earth, because the former is 1/470th of the diameter of the moon, while the latter is only the diameter of the earth One thousand four hundred and fortieth of.If the mountains on the earth were in equal proportions to those on the moon, the vertical height of the mountains would be six and a half leagues.But in fact, the highest mountain on earth is less than nine kilometers away.

Now let's compare: There are three peaks in the Himalayas that are taller than the highest mountain on the moon. Everest is 8,837 meters high, Kanchenjunga is 8,588 meters high, and finally, Dhaulagiri (Note: It is located in Nepal in the middle of the Himalayas.) It is 8,187 meters high.The Daufel and Leibniz peaks on the moon are as high as the Javahill peak in the same mountain range, that is to say, 7,603 meters.Several major peaks of the Caucasus and Apennines, such as Newton, Casatus, Kuzius, Schett, Tycho, Clavi, Blancanus, Endymi Angfeng is higher than Mont Blanc at 4,810 meters.As high as Mont Blanc, there are Mount Moretas, Geophilus, and Catharina; as high as Ross Peak, that is to say, 4,636 meters, there is Pikromi Nei, Werner, and Harparus; as high as Servino, that is to say, 4,522 meters, there are Microbius, Eratosun, Al Batac, Delambri; as high as Tenerife at 3,710 meters, there are Bacon, Sisatus, Philolaos, and several of the Alps. as high as Berdi in the Pyrenees, that is to say 3,351 metres, Lemer and Boguslavski; as high as Etna , that is to say 3,237 meters, there are Hercules Peak, Atlas Peak, and Frenelius Peak.

When measuring the height of the lunar mountains, the points mentioned above can be used as a reference.At this time, the orbit of the projectile happened to be propelling it towards the mountainous regions of the southern hemisphere, where here and there stood the most beautiful samples of lunar mountain morphology.